Too small of a ship?

[mixedcutie23]

Hey,

I am looking at one of RCL ships to take for my first cruise. The ship is the Empress of the Seas. Now from reading reviews and what not, I know that this is the smallest of RCLs ships. What I want to know if is this will really matter? How small is small, when we are talking about these ships? I am afraid that I will get seasick. The person that I am cruising with had no problems with being seasick, but she was on the majesty of the seas last year, and i do believe it was a much bigger ship. Do you think that I should opt for a different cruise, on a bigger ship?

[kitty9]

At 48,000 ton, when compared to the mega ships of today, the Empress is a small ship. Even most of the less passenger carrying luxury ships are in the 70,000 ton range. Will you feel more motion? Probably. The Empress is 14 years old, which by today's standards is considered old, so stabilizing features won't be nearly the same as with a new ship. The other thing that I find interesting is, considering her small size, she still carries over 2000 passengers which can mean feeling much more crowded than if you were on a larger ship. Also, with a smaller ship, there aren't nearly the number of great amenities that you find on larger ships.

 

But, will you get seasick? There's no way to tell. It all depends on the seas, weather and if you're already prone to motion sickness.

 

Personally, I much prefer smaller ships, but not one that still manages to stuff so many passengers into the smaller space. I love the Crystal ships that are around 68,000 ton, but those ships only carry 1000 passengers, or less. The newer Celebrity ships are 91,000 tons, but still carry less than what the Empress carries, so you can see what I'm saying about feeling overcrowded---kind of like sardines in a can LOL.

[asrey04]

I have been on both Empress of the Seas and Voyager of the Seas so have seen RCL large and small. Myself, in many ways preferred the Empress. The Voyager was so large and a long walk to get anyplace. My room was at the opposite end of the ship as the dining rooms so I did work off the calories I ate! The Empress was smaller and you got to recognize some of the other passengers which I liked. I did not have trouble with seasickness on either ship but again that is a personal thing. One note about the Empress was that if it was backing up or changing speeds it shook very hard. At mealtime the dishes rattling was too loud to talk over! At night it was just a vibrating bed. The shaking didn't last long but was a little disconcerting the first time.

[Hold]

I agree that bigger is not always better. This ship should be fine for your first cruise. If you like it you can always book your next cruise on a larger ship and see which one you like the best :rolleyes:

[geoherb]

We went on the Empress (back when it was the Nordic Empress) in 1990 and then again in 1999. Both cruises were great. It would be interesting to see what changes were made when it was refurbished earlier this year. Here's the press release on Royal Caribbean's website about some of them.

 

I like the smaller ships. We're going on Celebrity's Century next month. It's also an older ship--built in 1995. It's 50 percent larger than the Empress (70,606 tons vs. 48,563 tons) but carries fewer passengers, so it has a better space ratio and better crew to passenger ratio.

[HowardB]

I have the the exact problem, but in REVERSE. I have previously been on one cruise a 14 night transatlantic with no interim stops, on the Wind Spirit of the Windstar line. Max. capacity was 148, and there were 83 passengers on the 5,000 ton ship. We had a great time, and really got to mix with the other people - in fact, that was the main activity.

 

We are now doing another transatlantic - just reserved on the Insignia of the Oceania line - max. capacity 684 on the 30,000 ton ship. This one makes a number of stops. While we loved Windstar, we thought we'd try something with a bit more action and some ports. However, I am hoping that the number of people is not too many, that at least some of the intimacy is retained. I was encouraged because another posting reported that the recent Oceania transatlantic only had about 300 on-board. I know that is no guarantee as to what the load will be like in the spring of 2005, when we go, bit I am hoping for some load like that.

 

Seasickness was not really a consideration for us - even before the first trip on Windstar, and we did fine.

[Earthworm Jim]

48,000 tons may be small today, but it's all relative. Compare it to the Titanic, which was huge in it's day. The Titanic's dispalcement was 47,000 tons.

 

I once sailed on the Zenith which was around the same size as the Express and I was very happy with it.

[StephenJohnson]

At 48,000 ton, when compared to the mega ships of today, the Empress is a small ship. Even most of the less passenger carrying luxury ships are in the 70,000 ton range. Will you feel more motion? Probably. The Empress is 14 years old, which by today's standards is considered old, so stabilizing features won't be nearly the same as with a new ship. -SNIP-

 

No, no, no!

 

Stabilizing technologies have hardly changed at all in recent years, and most new ships are actually more top-heavy (so more prone to motion, especially rolling) than older, smaller ships. It's true that the wave systems need more total energy to push them around, but any significant wind or wave system has more than enough energy, believe me. It's boat stability features that drive motion, and those have actually tended to get worse, not better with time.

[bibb]

We've done cruises on ships of 16000, 22000, 40000, 70000, and 142000 as well as the Empress at 48000. We are also scheduled to sail on the Empress April 11, 2005 for the 2nd time. We were in some pretty rough weather on the Empress and we did not see anyone sick. On the Voyager, coming out of Cozumel, we saw the pool water splashing high in the air and crashing down over the deck chairs and we were not in a storm. Big does not necessarily mean smoother.

 

The Empress did not seem crowded to us and, as with most of the small ships, we were very close and personal with many of the staff and other passengers.

 

Our best cruises?? The 16000 ton Starward (NCL) & the 22000 ton Nordic Prince (RCCL).

[mixedcutie23]

Thank you guys for all of your answers. I appr. them greatly. Anyone as that has an opinion on this please still feel free to respond.

[StephenJohnson]

A minor further item: we were on the ~20,000 ton Enchanted Isle (sadly scrapped now) during Hurrican Mitch, and she rode out the fringes pretty well - however, she was built for fairly rough waters, so it's not really fair to compare.

 

There is one ship which is notably different in motion, the Radisson Diamond - built for reduced motion, she's the only open ocean twin hull passenger ship I can think of.

 

Take your seasickness medicine of choice, our friends who are very prone to seasickness use the Scopolamine patch (prescription in the US, OTC in Canada) - DO NOT combine this with regular seasickness medications. If worst comes to worst, you can get a shot in the bum from the ship's doctor for a moderate cost.

[logan1_2000]

My first cruise was on the then-Nordic Empress in 2001, 4 nights out of San Juan. Have also sailed Disney's two ships since. Small staterooms was an issue--139 sq. feet for oceanview--and it was an obstructed view, and our travelling companions were stuck into a 108 sq. ft. oceanview stateroom, also w/ an obstructed view, that was shameful--on Disney, for example, obstructed views are priced as interior. The pool deck was not teak, it was the phony astroturf feeling carpet, and one of the two hot tubs was out of commission the entire cruise. I know many will say you dont spend any time in your stateroom, but that becomes a self-sulfilling prophecy when you are in a closet.

 

I felt the vibration and movement, especially in the dining room at the stern, but whether that amounts to sickness is, as other posters mention, individual. As a first time cruiser, I wore a patch behind the ear, probably didn't need it, and have never used one since. We traveled with good friends and that is what made it a good cruise. Oh, that and having made the trip w/o children. Which gets back to wanting to take some time in the stateroom...

 

I wouldn't sail her again, I wouldn't expect--but am looking at the Enchantment of the Seas, so its not a RCCL thing.

[lizitish]

I was on that ship last November. The cabins are very very small!! I would look for another ship!

 

 

 

Margie

[mixedcutie23]

After reading all the comments, I believe that I am going to try a bigger ship. I just think it would be the best for my first time out. Thank you all for your opinions.